Page 41 of Lies Beneath Secrets (Skeleton Crew #1)
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Lauren
I sit there stunned for a moment too long, watching as Con makes his way over to an octagon-shaped table and takes a seat. “I’m fucking this mouth of yours.” His words echo in my head and on their own, my thighs clench together in an attempt to relieve the ache that was sparked. It does absolutely nothing. How could he have me such a mess with one sentence? I do my best to shake it off and force myself up from the chair and walk over to the bar.
“I see the game has started.” Siena refills my now empty glass.
“Are the women allowed to play?” I ask before taking a sip.
“Yeah, but we don’t normally. Better things to spend our money on than gambling. Then when we want to play, the guys change the stakes to items of clothing or sexual favors instead of money. I’m always out when they try to pull that shit.” She rolls her eyes.
“I thought as a club girl, you would need to be,” I interlace my fingers together, “ya know? With someone.” Siena chuckles at my question.
“Not necessarily. Now, the girls who come here? Like Tina and Amber.” She tips her head toward two women. Two women who Con openly admitted having slept with. “They aren’t members. They’re here for one thing,” she raises her brows, “but to each their own.”
“They seem to be happy.” I shrug, and we both laugh. “So, being a member, how does that work?” I ask. No way has Con told me everything.
“Well, we normally get stuck with the basic jobs, like bartending. But then there are times they’ll need us for something bigger. It just depends on where we would fit into the plan I guess. I’m fairly new, so this has pretty much been my gig since day one. Not that I’m complaining.” She reaches underneath the bar and produces a can of Seltzer, then opens it to take a drink. “This club saved my life. So, if I need to bartend for the rest of it, I think that’s a fair trade.”
“What about living expenses? A social life? Freedom ?”
“It’s not like you can’t do anything.” She waves her hand at me in dismissal. “You get a paycheck like any other job to cover things. It just depends on what jobs you’re doing. And the club pays better than minimum wage, that’s for sure. I live right in town and if I don’t want to come here one day, I just don’t. And my freedom? I have plenty, but this is a lifestyle change. Sort of like HIPPA, you need to keep a lid on whatever you see or hear in this place. Especially if you attend any meetings. I haven’t yet been in one though. I’m assuming Con told you about initiation?” Her perfectly manicured nails tap on the white can, bright-red sparkles flicker in the dim lighting above the bar.
“The initiation, yeah, he mentioned that part. He also said I wasn’t allowed to leave.” She waves her hand in dismissal.
“That’s to cover their ass. When I first came here, they put me in a damn room. Scared the shit out of me. I thought I had made the worst decision until, well… until I took care of business.” She tips her can to the side. “After that, I was a member and could come and go as I pleased.”
I look down at my almost-empty glass for a minute, then back up to her. “So, other than that, have you ever regretted the decision you made?” Siena is quiet for a moment; something close to sadness flashes behind her eyes before she shakes her head, then looks behind me. It’s only for a split second, so quickly I don’t even know who or what she’s looking at before her gaze comes back to me.
“No. It might have been my only decision, but it was the right one.”